Can Alfa Romeo be Italy's Tesla?

Alfa Romeo will reinvent itself - again - to become an all-electric rival to Tesla by the end of the decade. 

That’s the plan laid out by Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Phillippe Imparato, who told CarsGuide that he was to rejuvenate the brand and embrace electrification and quality. This will include the Quadrifoglio performance models, which he claims could have up to 745kW (1000hp) while retaining their trademark handling and dynamics.

“If you want to build the future of Alfa Romeo over the next 20 years, 30 years, you cannot avoid the movement to electrification - it does not exist,” Imparato told selected media, including CarsGuide.

Since coming under the umbrella of Stellantis and the installation of Frenchman Imparato as global boss, Alfa Romeo has focused on returning to profitability in order to finance this new electric product plan. At the same time, it has sought to improve its quality rating from third-parties, such as J.D. Power rankings, which has been a problem for the brand for decades.

These are the core tenets of Imparato’s leadership of the brand, he says: “Alfa Romeo profitability. Alfa Romeo quality. Alfa Romeo product plan.”

The product plan is relatively simple, ditching the complex plans under previous leadership and instead looking to launch one new model every year. This began in 2023 with the arrival of the new Tonale small SUV, in 2024 the brand will add a compact SUV, which will be powered exclusively by electrified powertrains.

Alfa Romeo is looking to launch one new model every year, which began with the Tonale.

Following that in 2025 and ‘26 the brand will introduce electric replacements for the Giulia and Stelvio before adding a larger model in ‘27, most likely an SUV to compete against the likes of the BMW iX and Tesla Model X.

“We have to go into E-segment, because if we want to be the world premium [brand] we must go in the E-segment, probably in 2027,” Imparato explained. “I will come back to you next year with the first impressions of this proposal that will be up [in size and class] compared to Stelvio and Giulia.”

But that’s not all, because Alfa Romeo celebrated the 100th anniversary of its Quadrifoglio performance division in 2023 and Imparato wants to maintain it despite the electric switch. This will mean Quadrifoglio versions of the next-generation Giulia and Stelvio, but Imparato is adamant that they must meet the same standards as the petrol-powered models in terms of performance and handling.

The brand will introduce electric replacements for the Giulia, as well as the Stelvio.

“Each time we will launch a car from 2025 we will have a Quadrifoglio if, and only if, we consider at Alfa Romeo that we have the level of performance and handling that is at the level of a Quadrifoglio customer,” he said. 

“What does that mean? It means that we will reach somewhere around 900-1000-horsepower on the Quadrifoglio proposal for the next-generation of electrified cars. Always being driven by the functionality means I don’t want you to be at the charging station for two hours charging your cars.”

While that’s an attention-grabbing power number, Imparato also revealed that the Quadrifoglio models will get a unique battery package compared to other members of the range, which will focus on performance and driving range.

The Quadrifoglio performance models will also receive electrification.

“We will have a specific battery for the Quadrifoglio version, probably lighter, probably less kilowatt [hours] but high-power efficiency,” he said. “As we know that every three years the market will evolve with tech, we will be focused on every time we launch a Quadrifoglio version it will have the latest evolution of the battery technology for the group.”

Alfa Romeo is set to utilise the shared ‘STLA Large’ platform from the wider Stellantis group for these new models in order to save costs, but Imparato indicated that Alfa Romeo will invest in its own suspension and other components to ensure unique handling characteristics. 

“We will have to work a lot on the road-handling of the cars,” he said. “The guys developing the cars are benefitting from the fantastic technological basket of technologies from Stellantis on one side, but we are focusing the energy of the guys from Alfa Romeo… on the road-handling. This is the key for me, it must be drivable.”

Alfa Romeo has focused on returning to profitability in order to finance their new electric product plan.

As for an electric hero model, that’s something that remains on Imparato’s agenda. The Frenchman hasn’t been subtle in his comments since taking over the Italian brand that he wants to bring back the iconic GTV nameplate, but said there are some inside the company agitating for the Alfetta badge.

“That’s a question, Alfetta or GTV,” Imparato said, pointing to the brand’s product planning chief, Daniel Guzzafame. 

The fact they’re opening debating names suggests that a hero model is all-but-confirmed, with it likely to take the form of a two-door coupe that would act as a halo model for this new-look electric Alfa Romeo range.